I have had lots of work done in my house. I always explain that I work during the day to see if they can come early, during lunch, or later in the afternoon to avoid missing a whole day. I had a termite inspection at 7 am this morning which was perfect. Of course, I have had several times this approach didn’t work and I had to take time off work. In those cases, I try to get as many appts on the same day as I can. I am more than willing to pay extra for a weekend appt but often they are not available. I also found the weekend help is not always the top performers for the company so there are trade offs.

As for my A/C business which is located in Ft Worth Texas we work around our customers schedules. We offer after hour appointments, 24 hour emergency service 7 days a week. Upfront pricing so you know the exact cost before we complete the repair. Maybe you should try to explain your time issues to your contractors and see if they cant work with you. If they can’t work with you, then find another contractor.

because we don’t want your dumb a** accusing us of stealing anything . would you like to be alone in a complete strangers house

I don’t think you have this issue in perspective. What do you do when you have to see a doctor, dentist, lawyer, teacher, judge, serve on a jury, have a medical test, and the list could go on — you take off from your work to see these people where they work. At least the tradesmen are coming to your house.

Most of the folks I listed give you an appointment, but when was the last time your doctor saw you at the appointed hour, or the medical test took place without you doing something hours earlier- like fasting?

Do you have a job that gets done without inconveniencing anyone? If so sure, you are put out when you have to take off work but that’s nothing new. And when do you expect the work to get done-in the evening, in the dark?

I understand your problem, I work in an office for a service company. Unfortuanetly, there isn’t much to be done. We do offer Saturdays, but only have a limited number of guys on that day. And we do require that someone over the age of 18 be at home when our guys are there. We don’t expect you to be able to take 5 days off in a month, but sometimes there is no way around it.

They work during ‘working hours’.
Most Unions have rules about it and unuual hours
are costly.

Would you be willing to pay time and a half to have them come after hours?

That is exactly what keeps some of us in business. Most people can’t take that kind of time off so they hire interior designers, estate managers, or services that “house sit” projects. Also, it enables the trades to charge “emergency and after hours” rates because they don’t want to work nights, weekends and holidays. I agree though, the utility providers and cable services are a real pain to schedule a 4-6 hour time slot to be available for their service calls.

Yes it is a problem but looking at their side of it, they have families like everybody else and like to spend time with them. I believe if i were in that field and could set my own time I would go for Tuesday through Saturday and take Sunday and Monday off.

most contractors insist you be home because that way they can’t get blamed or sued for anything missing or damaged around the home. cable guys make sure your their so when they hook up your cable they can make sure it works before they leave